36 million euros for future technologies: Helmholtz launches three new research initiatives

Three new research campaigns launch in 2026

Established over a three-year period, the initiatives address cross-cutting topics in the Helmholtz research areas of Health, Information, Matter, Energy, and Earth and Environment. The new initiatives strengthen collaboration within the Helmholtz Association and cooperation with companies, start-ups, and university partners in order to address key challenges for the economy and society. “The future is happening now - and it is emerging where science, politics, and industry work together,” says Helmholtz President Prof Martin Keller. “With our research initiatives, we are driving innovation to make our country a leading location for new technologies and to tangibly improve people’s lives.”

Helmholtz Biomedical Engineering Initiative

The aim of the Helmholtz Biomedical Engineering Initiative is to position Germany as a leading location for biomedical technologies, applications, and start-ups, and to accelerate the transfer of new research results into clinical practice and everyday life. To this end, the initiative connects Helmholtz Centers in the field of health research with other Helmholtz Centers and with partners from science, clinical practice, and industry. 

The project INSIGHT is developing a high-precision technology platform to analyze the human gut microbiome at the single-cell level under realistic conditions - with the aim of developing probiotic therapies against multi-resistant germs and making microbiome-based medicine plannable and controllable. Prof Till Strowig, head of the HZI department “Microbial Immune Regulation”, is involved in INSIGHT.

SENSE-FLU is developing an innovative diagnostic system that detects an influenza infection via a bitter taste in the mouth - for example via a taste sensor on chewing gum and without any laboratory technology. Influenza is one of the most serious infectious diseases worldwide and causes up to 500,000 deaths every year. In the project, Prof Lorenz Meinel from the Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg (JMU), who is also affiliated with the Helmholtz Institute for RNA-based Infection Research (HIRI), is cooperating with Prof Carlos Guzman, Head of the HZI department “Vaccinology and Applied Microbiology”. The HIRI is a site of the HZI in cooperation with the JMU.

Quantum Use Challenge

With the Quantum Use Challenge, the Helmholtz Association is promoting the targeted transfer of quantum technologies into previously untapped fields of application. The aim of the initiative is to harness the potential of quantum computing, simulation, and sensor technologies for specific societal and industrial challenges where conventional methods are increasingly reaching their limits. 

QuWIRK develops specialized quantum algorithms for various phases of digital drug research - from the analysis of cellular data to the optimization of drug candidates - with the aim of enabling faster and more precise drugs against infectious diseases in the future. Prof Andreas Keller, head of the department “Clinical Bioinformatics” at the Helmholtz Institute for Pharmaceutical Research Saarland (HIPS), is contributing to the project. The HIPS is a site of the HZI in cooperation with Saarland University.

Helmholtz Water Safety and Security Initiative

Drought and heat stress, as well as flooding and heavy rainfall, are significantly altering the water cycle. In countries of the Global South, an unreliable water supply is already hampering social and economic development; in the future, industrialized countries will also have to prepare for increasingly variable availability. In view of these growing global crises and risks, the Helmholtz Water Safety and Security Initiative focuses on the central challenge of ensuring sustainable and safe water management. 

SOLVE develops scientifically sound, integrated strategies to keep water in the Elbe catchment area in the landscape, mitigate extreme events and stabilize ecosystems and biodiversity in the long term. Prof Katharina Schaufler, head of the department “Epidemiology and Ecology of Antimicrobial Resistance” at the Helmholtz Institute for One Health (HIOH) in Greifswald - a site of the HZI - is part of the SOLVE project team.